'Big Brother' season finale: Winner is...

[UPDATE: Check out my full recap by clicking here!] The Big Brother house is a lot like a Jenga Tower. When the game begins, everything fits together perfectly. And then the blocks start to move, and things become unsteady, and eventually the whole thing comes tumbling down. In this metaphor, the Big Brother contestants are Jenga blocks, the “things becoming unsteady” is a season filled with backstabbing, Amanda is the older kid who knocks everything over just because they can, and Julie Chen is our collective babysitter picking up the pieces and putting us all to bed early without our supper.

The point is, fellow viewers, this season of Big Brother is over, and a new winner has been crowned. It came down to three Exterminators: Andy, the eternal backstabber who successfully managed to play pretty much everyone in the house this season; GinaMarie, the competition fiend who had an out-of-nowhere second act as a power player; and Spencer, the recordsetting pawn. Who would win the final Head of Household? Who would win the half a million dollars? Well, the votes are in…

…and that winner is…

[SPOILER ALERT]

…Andy. And you know what? I think he deserved it, too. I’ve been as skeptical as the next guy of Andy’s whole gameplay style. He hopscotched between power alliances. He threw people under the bus. The couple of times that he had power in the house, he nervously did his best to hand that power off to someone else.

But Andy made a good case for himself. He won competitions in the endgame. He argued that his role as Double-Triple-Quadruple Agent was singlehandedly responsible for evicting half the jury; he walked right up to saying that he was the power behind the Amanda throne. You might not like his gameplay, and it certainly didn’t create much drama. But he won fair and square. And give Andy some credit: After a game filled with backstabbery, his last move demonstrated loyalty, keeping GinaMarie around even though Spencer would’ve been a much less dangerous Final-Two opponent.

This wasn’t a particularly exciting Final Three. (Nobody seriously thought Spencer would win, right?) But there was a lot to chew on in that season finale. Dr. Will interrogated the Jury house. Julie Chen managed to get a conversation going, for just a moment, about the racism thing. Elissa won America’s Choice — which is ridiculous, frankly, considering that she barely even wanted to be in the house half the time. Maybe I’m just upset because she defeated Judd. People! He just loves frawgs!

My full recap will be up in a few hours. [UPDATE: Read the recap here!] In the meantime, start talking! Were you surprised by Andy’s victory? Are you shocked to learn that Candice and Aaryn are Jury Friends? And would you mind terribly if your humble Big Brother recapper takes a moment to refer back to Page Three of my Season Premiere Recap, wherein I named Andy my Ridiculously Early Pick to Win it All?